"We made a statement. I tallied the record of the fighters that Errol fought and it was like 92-5 this year. You can't please everybody. People saying he should have fought this guy and that guy. You can say maybe this guy wasn't that great, but you can also say he was able to hit Errol Spence more than any other fighter has been able to. Mayweather even had trouble hitting him when they sparred...The last two guys were really tough guys and 2016 looks to be a big year and hopefully we get that title shot that we've been looking for," stated Derrick James, world-class trainer of welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr., who talked about their latest win, their future plans, and more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the win over Barrera with Errol Spence. What did you think of his performance?
DJ: I thought it was good. Obviously there are things we still need to work on. I'm searching for the perfect day. I think he got hit about 12 times, which is not a lot in 5 rounds, but at the same time, too much for myself and too much for Errol. We just have to focus a little bit more and stay in a little bit more.
PC: You have a ton of respect for Nacho Beristain. You feel he's the best in the game. What was it like for you being across from a guy matching wits against someone you have so much admiration for?
DJ: I give him his respect and acknowledge him for his greatness, and then you gotta just focus on what you've seen his other fighters do in the past. You look for the things that he's instilled in his other guys and look for this guy to do those same things. I think they had the perfect game plan. I talked to Errol before the fight and I told him, "The guy is not faster than you, he's not better than you, and he can't punch as hard as you can. The only chance he has is to catch you coming in." The times he hit Errol was the times he caught Errol coming in. If you look at the 4th round, I had Errol do something different. I had him step around and come at him from a different angle. That worked, but you know, by the next round, his trainer was going to tell him to do something different. So it was a chess match; boxing is a chess match.
PC: What was it like for you guys to be at home in Dallas and be able to put on that type of performance?
DJ: It was amazing. We get a lot of fans around the country and people acknowledge him all of the time when we are in Vegas and New York, but for it to happen in Dallas was phenomenal. It was a great thing. I love that it happened. Everybody came out, the venue was sold out, and that's phenomenal. I'm pretty sure they will be back some time next year.
PC: That was an IBF eliminator. It looks like next year could get really interesting for you guys.
DJ: Without a doubt. We made a statement. I tallied the record of the fighters that Errol fought and it was like 92-5 this year. You can't please everybody. People saying he should have fought this guy and that guy. You can say maybe this guy wasn't that great, but you can also say he was able to hit Errol Spence more than any other fighter has been able to. Mayweather even had trouble hitting him when they sparred, but this guy was able to land shots because of the great mind behind him. You not only look at that guy, but you also look at the guy behind him. We are going to be great because we've had great competition and stiff competition. The last two guys were really tough guys and 2016 looks to be a big year and hopefully we get that title shot that we've been looking for.
PC: What do you feel you have instilled in Errol the most from fight one as his trainer to present?
DJ: The reality of boxing is, I teach my guys to grade themselves. I teach them that he hit you because of something you did wrong, not because of what he did. His job is to throw punches at you. That's his job and you have to acknowledge that and know that it's going to happen. If you think about it, his intellect and his intelligence in the ring is incredible. I think Nacho looked at the video and said, "Errol comes straight down the middle." They were waiting for him to come straight down the middle. In every fight, we came straight down the middle. The reason we did it is because there was nobody to make him come at them from a different angle. This fight, the guy said, "Listen, you keep coming down the middle, I'm going to hit you with my right hand and my uppercut." So Errol's level of intelligence would be what I feel he's taken away. I told him what to do and as you see in the 4th round, the fight totally changed because they had no answer for him coming at them from a different angle. When we did the meeting where we choose gloves, they didn't even show up. They knew they had their Reyes Gloves; they didn't care what we were using. They didn't think we would be a problem in the world as long as we kept coming down the middle. We work on coming from every angle and that's what you saw.
PC: What would be the ideal situation for Errol from your standpoint as his trainer?
DJ: Al Haymon is doing a phenomenal job, PBC is doing a great job, and our publicist is doing a phenomenal job; everybody is doing a great job. We just have to keep getting better and stay within the moment and just keep getting better and keep using a great jab. You will see him constantly grow and constantly get better.
PC: How soon would you like to see him back in the ring?
DJ: February! You don't want to keep your guy on ice for too long. He went 5 good rounds, but I would like to see him back in the ring in February to keep him focused and to keep him busy. That would be the perfect timetable for another fight.
PC: That was a great performance, I look forward to seeing you guys in there again next year and I wish you the best of luck. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
DJ: I want to thank everyone for the love and support, especially Dallas fans and the people in Dallas. And I want to thank everyone for watching PBC all over the country and everybody that's supporting the sport of boxing right now. The more viewership we get, the more fights we get to bring for free. That's the key to it all and it's the movement that we have going on, so I just want to thank everyone for their love and support.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]